The Obninsk-based Technologiya Research and Production Enterprise of RT Chemcomposite Group (part of the state hi-tech corporation Rostec) has developed a carbon fiber load-carrying panel for the newest solar module of a promising spacecraft, Rostec said on Thursday.
"Thanks to the use of composite materials, the panel is the lightest in the world by its weight while its high firmness ensures the protection of the module’s photocells from cosmic particles, radiation and space debris. The carbon fiber panel, into which solar batteries will be installed, is considerably lighter than its analogs, which makes it 30% more efficient in the use and several times cheaper than the existing variants," the high-tech corporation said in a statement.
The assembled panel’s weight measured 1.5 kg per square meter, making it the lightest in the world by this indicator. The panel successfully passed autonomous testing and is currently involved in several comprehensive tests, the statement says.
"An item’s ergonomic efficiency and weight play a key role for space hardware. Each additional weight kilogram reduces the efficiency and the time of operation of space vehicles. Our developers have been able to create a light and simultaneously very firm structure by using unique composite materials," Rostec Executive Director Oleg Yevtushenko was quoted by the corporation’s press office as saying.
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27 November 2018
